Should naturalized citizens be President? The constitution says that on 'natural-born' citizens can be President. Should we change that?

• Author: Yinger, John
• Position: Debate

YES My son, Jonah, came to the U.S. from Vietnam as a 4-month-old baby. When his second-grade class studied the presidency, he was told that he cannot run for President when he grows up, even if he wants to. According to the Constitution, only a "natural-born Citizen" can be President.

More than 12.8 million naturalized citizens, including 250,000 foreign-born adoptees like Jonah, are second-class citizens who cannot hold the highest office in the land.

The natural-born-citizen clause violates a central principle of American democracy: All citizens should have equal rights. When written, the Constitution embraced this principle but failed to protect the rights of women and of racial and ethnic minorities. The 14th, 15th, and 19th Amendments have been added to protect these groups. The next step is to remove the natural-born-citizen clause.

The Founding Fathers included the natural-born-citizen clause so no foreign prince could buy his way into the presidency. This concern is no longer relevant. Some people say we still need this clause to ensure that the President is loyal to the country, but naturalized citizens are a very loyal group.

Moreover, the Constitution allows any natural-born citizen, loyal or not, to run for President and relies on voting rights and the judgment of the American people to keep disloyal people from being elected. These protections would work just as well if we let naturalized citizens run for President, too.

--John Yinger

Professor of Economics and Public

Administration, Maxwell School

Syracuse University

NO America has always been open to foreign-born immigrants becoming full and equal citizens--with one exception: Only a "natural-born Citizen" can become President.

This requirement strikes a reasonable balance between our society's openness...